Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Browser Bitcoin Miner

bitcoinplus.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 23 posts

Re: Browser Bitcoin Miner

#11

Post by dnadolny »

wmf wrote: post #9

This should be called GlobalWarming@Home because it's so inefficient; it's literally 200x slower than a GPU. The generated BTC are probably worth less than the electricity consumed.

Yes, it is slower than GPU mining. I meant this to be more of an introductory easy to use miner to get people interested without having to download anything or configure anything. So it is slower than GPU, but you can generate a usable amount of BTC to play around with

I wonder, what's the math behind the electricity use of an idle CPU vs a CPU at 100%?

Re: Browser Bitcoin Miner

#12

Post by baggachipz »

wmf wrote: post #9

This should be called GlobalWarming@Home because it's so inefficient; it's literally 200x slower than a GPU. The generated BTC are probably worth less than the electricity consumed.

Unless your office is paying for the electricity ;)

--edit-- Really? I'm getting downvoted for a valid point?

Re: Browser Bitcoin Miner

#13

Post by dnadolny »

baggachipz wrote: post #12
wmf wrote: post #9

This should be called GlobalWarming@Home because it's so inefficient; it's literally 200x slower than a GPU. The generated BTC are probably worth less than the electricity consumed.

Unless your office is paying for the electricity ;) --edit-- Really? I'm getting downvoted for a valid point?

True.

I've been thinking this over for a while. Right now, the general consensus is that the price of bitcoin will end up being related to the cost of electricity for computing, and in the long run transaction fees will have to go up or down to make that happen.

I think this will change.

When you have negative externalities like this, where people don't pay for electricity (they're renting, or in a condo/apartment building that has electricity included) or even free CPU power, as in an office, then the economics change. The price of bitcoin won't be tied to the price of electricity/CPU power, it will be tied to the cost of running a website like mine that lets people take advantage of free CPU power.

Re: Browser Bitcoin Miner

#14

Post by wmf »

dnadolny wrote: post #13
baggachipz wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless your office is paying for the electricity ;) --edit-- Really? I'm getting downvoted for a valid point?

True. I've been thinking this over for a while. Right now, the general consensus is that the price of bitcoin will end up being related to the cost of electricity for computing, and in the long run transaction fees will have to go up or down to make that happen. I think this will change. When you have negative externalities like this, where people don't pay for electricity (they're renting, or in a condo/apartment bu…

Yes, I think there will be a "base" of miners who basically have zero marginal cost, then a certain number of "suckers" who think that they'll make money even though they won't, and then "serious" miners whose number will vary according to profitability. Ultimately the base + suckers is probably enough to keep Bitcoin working in some form.

Re: Browser Bitcoin Miner

#15

Post by eqdw »

baggachipz wrote: post #12
wmf wrote: post #9

This should be called GlobalWarming@Home because it's so inefficient; it's literally 200x slower than a GPU. The generated BTC are probably worth less than the electricity consumed.

Unless your office is paying for the electricity ;) --edit-- Really? I'm getting downvoted for a valid point?

Even if they are, it's not worth it. Using my laptop CPU, I can expect to get a payout of about 0.0003 BTC in an hour and half. Using my gpu at home, I get about 1.25BTC/day.

Re: Browser Bitcoin Miner

#16

Post by dnadolny »

eqdw wrote: post #15
baggachipz wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless your office is paying for the electricity ;) --edit-- Really? I'm getting downvoted for a valid point?

Even if they are, it's not worth it. Using my laptop CPU, I can expect to get a payout of about 0.0003 BTC in an hour and half. Using my gpu at home, I get about 1.25BTC/day.

I'm curious, is your computer usable while you're using your GPU for mining? Or do you have a 2nd graphics card dedicated to mining?

I tried out GPU mining but my computer was unusable while it was running.

Re: Browser Bitcoin Miner

#17

Post by dnadolny »

wmf wrote: post #9

This should be called GlobalWarming@Home because it's so inefficient; it's literally 200x slower than a GPU. The generated BTC are probably worth less than the electricity consumed.

Someone on the bitcoin forums[1] has a killawatt meter and measured the difference between idle and 100% CPU. We did the math and for his computer, if the cost of electricity is under 14.1 cents per kWh (and you have your computer on anyway), it's profitable to use my CPU miner.

[1] http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=8780.msg127782#msg1...

Re: Browser Bitcoin Miner

#18

Post by jokermatt999 »

dnadolny wrote: post #8
3pt14159 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also wonder this. Also, say I have a highly trafficked site with a worthless customer base (say a puppy pictures site for 6 year olds) is there a way I can embed your applet into my site and have it generate me bitcoins invisibly to the six year old? I'd much rather do this than spam them with useless adwords. Edit: I'm aware that this will only generate about half a cent per hour, but you would be surprised how lo…

That came up on the bitcoin forums ( http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=8780.0 ). I've got plans for doing something like that - let you embed the miner in your website so your visitors mine bitcoin for you. It's a really cool idea because you get money based on how long people stay on your page, rather than how many pageviews or click-throughs you have. Instead it's based on a more accurate measure of user int…

Just my opinion, but this feels really scummy. I'd wonder why your site caused my CPU to spike, and probably consciously avoid it from then on.

Re: Browser Bitcoin Miner

#19

Post by dnadolny »

jokermatt999 wrote: post #18
dnadolny wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That came up on the bitcoin forums ( http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=8780.0 ). I've got plans for doing something like that - let you embed the miner in your website so your visitors mine bitcoin for you. It's a really cool idea because you get money based on how long people stay on your page, rather than how many pageviews or click-throughs you have. Instead it's based on a more accurate measure of user int…

Just my opinion, but this feels really scummy. I'd wonder why your site caused my CPU to spike, and probably consciously avoid it from then on.

I get where you're coming from. Here's an interesting thought: consider this as an alternative to advertising.

Which would you rather: a website use your mind by taking your attention to an advertisement, or a website using your CPU?

Re: Browser Bitcoin Miner

#20

Post by jokermatt999 »

dnadolny wrote: post #19
jokermatt999 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just my opinion, but this feels really scummy. I'd wonder why your site caused my CPU to spike, and probably consciously avoid it from then on.

I get where you're coming from. Here's an interesting thought: consider this as an alternative to advertising. Which would you rather: a website use your mind by taking your attention to an advertisement, or a website using your CPU?

Advertising, no contest. Annoying, intrusive ads I have no qualms about adblocking, because they will never actually get me to buy a product. Helpful, non-invasive ads and clearly disclosed affiliate links? Feel free, since I'm getting some benefit too. There is no way for me to benefit from you using my cpu (ignoring the actual content in this comparison, obviously).
Post reply on HN